Editorial: It sounded like such a great idea.

Why not hold a strictly fun event — no big prizes, no big competitions — to see how many of us can swim from one landmark to another?

We refer to Lowdermilk Park to the Naples Pier — some 2.4 miles.

Landlubbers among us consider that to be somewhat of an adventurous walk, let alone a swim.

And when we compare that to the repeated attempts to swim from Key West to Cuba, it seems like a mere dip.

Despite little advance publicity, about 275 local swimmers thought the challenge was a great idea when they turned out for the inaugural event Sunday.

Little did anyone suspect that the challenge — to raise money for the Safe and Health Children's Coalition of Collier County — would turn out to be so exciting, for the wrong reason.

The swimmers were not in the water long before they had visitors. Jellyfish. The kind that show up this time every year in local waters and can administer really nasty stings.

Bummer.

We hope the Park-to-Pier swim event comes back for a second try.

We believe it can with some modest safety procedures. They might include more thorough checks of the water along the swim route before and during the event. These jellyfish tend to come in big bunches, but they can come and go. A brief postponement could let the event proceed safely the same day.

Even officials may have other and better ideas. We hope so. Because, like we said, this was a great idea.